Departures of note

Ladislas Joseph Meduna tried chemicals including strychnine, thebaine, coramine, caffeine, and brucin to induce seizures in animals, then settled on camphor dissolved in oil as effective and reliable. He moved from Budapest to the psychiatric hospital at Lipotmező and began dose‑finding experiments on 2 January 1934, inducing seizures in about one‑third of his subjects.

He reported that three of the first eleven patients responded positively. He recalled a 33‑year‑old patient with severe catatonia who began treatment on 23 January 1934; after five sessions the catatonia and psychotic symptoms were abolished. Expanding to twenty‑six patients, Meduna achieved recovery in ten and improvement in three.